MEXICO | Rising household incomes. The average quarterly household income increased by 2% to M$46,521 (US$2,611) in 2016 compared with 2014, according to the latest instalment of the national household income and spending survey (Enigh) released on 28 August by the national statistics institute (Inegi). While the increase in average household incomes is positive, the Enigh also found that the average quarterly income of the wealthiest households is M$168,855 (US$9,476), or 21 times higher than that of low-income households, which stands at M$8,166 (US$458). This shows that the wealth inequality gap remains large and that the social programmes implemented by the government have not yet addressed this issue.
Following the release of the 2016 Enigh, Mexico’s national social development policy council (Coneval), the official body tasked with evaluating the impact of government social policies, announced that it would release its 2016 national poverty figures in coming days. Coneval failed to release its poverty figures last year after accusing Inegi of unilaterally changing its household income measurement methodology, which Coneval argued made it impossible to compare the 2016 Inegi household income figures with the those produced under the previous methodology agreed on by both bodies in 2008. But since then and after a public spat, Inegi and Coneval agreed to create a new joint technical working group tasked with coming up with a way of comparing the data produced since 2008 with Inegi’s new household income measurement methodology, which would allow Coneval to continue evaluating the progression of poverty in Mexico adequately.
- Average household incomes
The Inegi survey, which was carried out between August and November 2016 and polled 81,000 households, also calculated the differences in average household incomes in urban and rural areas for the first time. Classifying as urban all those areas with over 2,500 inhabitants and those with less as rural, the latest Enigh instalment found that the average quarterly household income in urban areas is M$52,215 (US$2,930), double the M$26,000 (US$1,459) average observed in rural areas.